Principal SoC Design Engineer

Job Title

Principal SoC Design Engineer

Role Summary

Join Arm’s Solution Engineering team in San Diego to specify, implement and verify SoC subsystems using Arm and third-party IP. You will contribute micro-architecture specifications, RTL development, design checks and collaborate with verification, performance/power analysis and project management teams.

The role is hands-on engineering with mentorship responsibilities and cross-team collaboration to deliver SoCs optimized for performance and power.

Experience Level

Senior — requires 10+ years of experience designing complex compute subsystems or SoCs.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include design, implementation, verification support and team leadership.

• Develop SoC micro-architecture specifications and RTL for high-performance compute and AI solutions.
• Perform design reviews, fix RTL bugs, run static checks and produce implementation constraints.
• Collaborate with verification to review test plans and debug design issues.
• Work with performance and power analysis teams to evaluate and improve SoC performance/power.
• Contribute to and improve team design methodologies and flows.
• Mentor and support other engineers; coordinate with project management on plans and schedules.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and experience.

• Proven experience in digital hardware design using Verilog HDL for complex systems.
• Experience with power domains, clock-domain crossings and static design checks (lint, CDC/RDC, X-propagation).
• Exposure to full design lifecycle: specification, implementation, power/performance analysis, optimization, testing and documentation.
• Knowledge of synthesis, timing constraints and power-management techniques.
• Experience collaborating with verification teams to achieve design quality closure.
• Scripting skills (Perl, Python or similar) for automation and tooling.
• Leadership experience: mentoring, coaching or leading project activities.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with ARM-based designs and ARM System Architectures.
• SystemVerilog and verification methodologies (UVM/OVM/e).
• Familiarity with UPF, IP-XACT and power-intent flows.
• Experience integrating subsystems such as PCIe, UCIe, DDR/LPDDR/HBM, Ethernet.
• Understanding of DFT topics: RTL testability, scan insertion, OCC.

Education Requirements

Required: Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or a closely related technical field. The posting specifies degree-level qualifications in these fields alongside the experience requirement.

About the Company

Company: Arm

Headquarters: Cambridge, United Kingdom

ARM is a global leader in semiconductor and software design, driving innovation in computing technology. The company specializes in designing processors and systems that provide the essential building blocks for electronic devices. ARM's architecture is widely used in smartphones, servers, and IoT devices, and its collaborative culture fosters bold thinking, diversity, and high-impact benefits for its talented workforce.